MAC's ability to retain coaching talent may
face another test

When Kent State University athletic director Joel Nielsen was hired to replace the veteran Laing Kennedy in March 2010, the former made no bones about where he saw opportunities for the school's athletic department: on the football field.
Mr. Nielsen said a successful football team influences not only the department's bottom line, but also “develops life and spirit on campus in the fall.”
And Kent has accomplished that goal: After hiring Ohio State University assistant Darrell Hazell in December 2010, the Flashes have turned a once-dormant program into the nation's darling, with — depending on last Friday night's Mid-American Conference championship game — a possible Bowl Championship Series game and a significant cash influx in their future.
Now comes the critical part for Kent and any MAC school: sustaining it. Mr. Hazell, at $300,000, is paid the lowest salary among 13 MAC football coaches, and with eight major-conference programs that already have fired their coaches, the sharks are circling.
At those eight schools — Arkansas, Auburn, Boston College, Colorado, Kentucky, North Carolina State, Purdue and Tennessee — the average 2012 coaching salary was $1.47 million, according to data compiled by USA Today. Auburn's Gene Chizik's $3.5 million leads the way, with Colorado's Jon Embree notching the lowest pay at $725,000.
The average salary of 13 MAC football coaches, meanwhile, is $374,338, with Ohio University's Frank Solich leading the pack at $500,000 annually and Mr. Hazell bringing up the rear.
MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher said member schools' ability to compete would depend on who's doing the raiding. “If it's the Mountain West or Conference USA, (the league could compete),” he said. “If it's the Big Ten or SEC, that's a whole different animal.”

Pressure from Athens

Were Kent State not able to keep Mr. Hazell in the fold — and were Mr. Nielsen forced to search the assistant ranks for a coach at another bargain price — the school would take a far different tack than MAC rival Ohio University. OU nabbed Mr. Solich in a coup after he was let go from the University of Nebraska, and last March, hired former Kent basketball coach Jim Christian.
Mr. Christian replaced John Groce, who was hired by the University of Illinois after leading OU to a 29-win season and two upsets in the NCAA Tournament, taking the Bobcats to the Sweet 16. Most surprising: OU paid Mr. Christian the same amount he was making at Texas Christian University — about $600,000, including incentives — which far outpaced what any MAC school had paid a basketball coach to that point.
Upon the hire, OU president Roderick McDavis spoke of his desire to continue the momentum the Bobcats had built.
“My feeling was, with the right pieces in place — which we have in facilities and leadership — we wanted to keep this momentum in place,” Dr. McDavis said. “That's what made coach Christian so attractive to us.”
That feeling is echoed among other officials in the league, including outspoken University of Akron men's basketball coach Keith Dambrot. Mr. Dambrot has talked with Duquesne University multiple times the last few years about a potential move; Mr. Dambrot each time has returned to the Zips. But he, too, is looking at what MAC schools will do to keep top coaches.
“The more people invest in our league, everybody has to either put up or shut up,” he told The Akron Beacon Journal in April, upon Mr. Christian's hiring.
Those decisions are difficult, though. Ohio State spent $39.6 million in 2010-11 on football and men's basketball, according to Department of Education data. The Buckeyes can afford those outlays, with an $18.7 million profit from athletics in that academic year.
Kent State, by contrast, spent $6.4 million on those two sports in 2010-11, according to federal data, but just broke even, thanks to institutional support and a student fee.
“It's a challenge for conferences like the MAC, Sun Belt and WAC (Western Athletic Conference); we don't have a football stadium that holds 100,000 or $100 million in revenue,” said Mr. Kennedy, the former Kent State athletic director.
“But if you were to do an impact statement on the effect the football team's success has had on the school, it's very significant,” said Mr. Kennedy, who still teaches ethics in sports at Kent State and also consults for executive search firm Alden and Associates of Florence, Mass.
“You could make a strong case that we need to up the ante to keep successful programs trucking along and keep coaches like Hazell. That's the decision that's facing us now: Can we do that? Or, if after we experience success, can we sustain it if major programs take our coaches?”

Title IX concerns

The danger for schools in the MAC and other smaller conferences in the football “arms race,” as Mr. Kennedy termed it, goes beyond the gridiron. Title IX, the landmark 1972 legislation guaranteeing women equal access in higher education, also forced colleges to offer athletic opportunities to women in direct proportion to enrollment figures.
So, because Kent State's fall 2012 enrollment across its eight cam-puses is 41% male and 59% female, according to university figures, the school's roll of intercollegiate athletes also must reflect those percentages. That's a goal made harder to achieve by the 100 or so football players it has each year.
Fulfilling that requirement is not only based on participation, though; it also includes a financial component. So, if Kent State wants to add another $700,000 to Mr. Hazell's salary each year, the effects on the school's ability to comply with Title IX are nothing to brush aside.
“It's a concern, because on the MAC level, a comprehensive (athletic) program is very important. We have balanced programs in the MAC that can compete nationally,” Mr. Kennedy said, noting Kent State's baseball program, which advanced to its first College World Series this past summer.